Welcome!

Thank you for checking out my classroom website. Below is my classroom blog, where I include pictures of student work and instructional videos. Above I have links to our student Artsonia gallery, Youtube channel and my Prezis. If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll respond as quickly as possible.

​Fifth grade is working on the learning objectives: I can identify and create contour lines & I can create a portrait from observation. Each student began this self portrait piece by taking a photo of themselves and importing it into the Brushes app. They then created an additional layer to trace their photo. This was very difficult because the shadows and highlights make it hard to see the contour lines of their face. They drew on their background knowledge of portrait proportions they were introduced to in the fourth grade. I reviewed how we drew our self portraits from fourth grade as well. The noses were the most difficult but I think these pieces turned out wonderful! They make me smile.

I usually do a circle weaving with 5th grade each year but we use a paper plate and then remove the weaving when we were finished. The problem I've seen over the years in doing it this way is the weaving would curl up and also look like a small sock hat instead of staying flat.

Last year I stumbled across the way Mr. E (@http://www.artwithmre.com/) and I wanted to try it. They turned out so great I did it again this year! The students really liked designing their cardboard looms. We began by breaking up a 9" circle into eight equall parts and filled each with a complex pattern. I asked them to color in half of the pattern to have a nice contrast in colors. Then we strung the warp string and began weaving. It is a little tricky for some to get the weaving started, but once you get going with it, the weaving is a snap. Thanks to Mr E for sharing his lessons!

This project covered a couple of different learning objectives. The first was, "I can use contour lines to show form" & the second was, "I can create value using layers of watercolor". We started with a contour line drawing of a pumpkin and then went over our drawing with glue. We then used watercolor paint to paint our work, making sure to show three vales on our pumpkin. We then traced the edges of our glue and the edges of our value changes with a fine tipped marker. The results are beautiful. I found this lesson idea from the Cedar Creek Elementary website. The art teacher is Linda Welling. Thanks Linda for sharing! My lesson plan can be found here. My instructional video is below.

Fifth grade was focusing on three learning objectives with this piece. 1. Showing form using contour lines. 2. Mix two hues to create a new color. 3. Identify the arrangement of colors on the color wheel.

The subject of our drawings were seashells. We drew our shells from observation using contour lines. Then it was repeated 12 times in a circle shape for a color wheel. The shells were outlined with permanent marker. We labeled the drawing lightly with the color names in the correct order of the color wheel.

Finally we used watercolor to paint the primary and secondary colors and mixed the intermediate colors. The final step was to erase the labeled colors.

Our learning objective with this project is to create a subtractive printing plate. We used a styrofoam egg tray lids to cut and press a quarter of a radial line design. We used a dull pencil to press deeply without making a hole in the styrofoam. We then used white ink, a brayer and 3" square colored paper pieces to print the design 16 times. When the ink was dry we glued them onto 12" square white paper in four radial designs. I got my inspiration for this project at http://framedinswirlygold.blogspot.com.

I usually do a circle weaving with 5th grade each year but we use a paper plate and then remove the weaving when we were finished. The problem I've seen over the years in doing it this way is the weaving would curl up and also look like a small sock hat instead of staying flat.

This year I stumbled across the way Mr. E (@http://www.artwithmre.com/) and I wanted to try it. The students really liked designing their cardboard looms. When we strung the warp string and began weaving it was a little tricky for some but once you get going with the weaving it really is a snap. Thanks to Mr E for sharing his lesson!

With this lesson we looked at the abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko and focused on his color blocking paintings. We talked about how colors can express a mood and used an online site for a list of the emotions each color could represent. We then used chalk pastels and small white and black paper to practice four color studies. We also practiced how to color, smear and mix the chalk pastel. We considered the size and placement of each color rectangle. We then chose our favorite color piece to re-create on a large white or black paper. Thanks to http://arteascuola.com for sharing this lesson idea. You can find my lesson plan here.

Fifth Grade looked at some of Keith Haring's art pieces. We discussed how his figures have a distinct style. I then chose eight Haring pieces for the students to choose from. I asked them to think about a story they wanted to tell, what part of the piece would they "erase" to make it their own and what would their replacement figure be doing. Each student then imported their chosen piece from Dropbox to their iPad and finally into the Brushes app. The dropper tool was used to match the background color and cover over one or more figures. The altered piece was saved into photos.

Then we animated our Haring style figure in the DoInk app. I required each student to create at least two frames. We used the auto-fill tool to color our figures in. (This is my favorite tool to use in the app!)

Finally we created our composition by importing our altered Haring artwork as the background from photos and then added our figure to the foreground and chose a path for it to move across our work.

I want to thank my friend Sherry Sanning, from Garrett Elementary, for helping me brainstorm ideas for this lesson. My lesson plan can be found here. The rest of my student's work can be found on my YouTube channel. A link is located in the upper right hand corner of my homepage.

We are working on identifying the arrangement of colors on a 12 part color wheel. We started with a circle that we folded into 12 equal spaces. We added a repeated line on the outer edge of each space which created a radial design. The center of each space was colored in the correct color wheel order using watercolor paint. The students mixed their intermediate colors. Finally the outer space along the edge was painted with the complement of the color it was touching. A complementary color is a color that is directly across the color wheel.

With this lesson we reviews the definition of sculpture-in-the-round and asymmetrical balance. The lesson began by dividing a 8.5 x 11" paper into at least five spaces and fill with black and white, complex patterns with a balance of light and dark. I briefly introduced them to Zentangles and we looked at a few for ideas and inspiration. Once their paper was filled with pattern I copied it ten times and cut it into 3.5" x 8.5" pieces before the next class.

Each paper piece was rolled into tight/small tubes and secured with glue. A black base was created with cardboard and black construction paper. The final step was to assemble an asymmetrical sculpture-in-the-round securing the tubes with glue and some patience.

The student's loved this lesson. I discovered this lesson at a Missouri Art Teacher's conference many years ago. Sorry, but I am unable to find the teacher's name who shared it at the conference.

Denise Jackson

Check out my YouTube I've been teaching elementary Art for 18 years the last eight at Becky-David in the Francis Howell School District. Teaching Art is a great job and I absolutely love it! My job is made easier by all the wonderful Art teachers out there who share their ideas and "secrets" with me personally and through the internet. Thank you! Check out & subscribe to my Youtube channel of instructional videos & book read alouds by pressing the button at the top right.